The Candyman: Houston's own real-life Halloween horror story

Houston's "Candyman" has become something of an urban legend. But to many parents and children, the story of a father who poisoned his own son's Halloween candy with cyanide is a reminder of an evil far scarier than ghosts or goblins.

Forty years have passed since that Halloween night in 1974, but families have never forgotten.

"It was kind of a cold, and kind of a misty, damp night," remembers Harold Nassif, a former Pasadena Detective Sergeant who investigated the case. "Since it had been raining, Mr. O'Bryan had a raincoat on. Unbeknownst to his friends who he was with, he had the pixie sticks shoved up the sleeves of his raincoat."

Ronald O'Bryan gave pixie sticks to five children, including two of his own. His eight-year-old son, Timothy, asked for one first.

"He said the boy responded after he ate some of it that it was very bitter and didn't taste right," Nassif said.